Question about the "X"

[jkmjr]

I figured you more experienced guys could shed some light on this for me. As a general rule I have always been of the opinion that ducks will feed in open flooded fields early and then move to timber or larger bodies of water to "rest" later in the day. I know this is dependent on different factors and some of y'all might not even agree with this. With all the flooded ag. fields what makes a duck "think" there is food available in one field vs. another. If there are no ducks or decoys there to begin with what makes a passing duck just decide to stop and check for groceries? I assume they can't see it. We had a rice field last year that had a good bit of waste grain in it and we had an excellent early season and it stayed decent for the whole year. This year the field was not planted and absolutely no ducks. Do ducks just stop and check and them move on until they find food or are they "keen" enough to know what they are looking for before they land?

[khound22]

Good question, probably a natural/scientific answer, but I dont know it. Hope somebody chimes in

[jkmjr]

I re-read my post and it is way too wordy.

If there are no ducks or decoys on a body of water what makes a duck think there is food there? If they can't see it do they just give it check and move on? There are so many "manmade" flooded ag. fields I was just curious as to your opinions on what makes one more inviting than the next?

[novacaine]

You do realize you are trying to figure out an animal with a walnut sized brain....
Disclaimer..........im not a waterfowl biologist so my opinion is less than nothing.
I have always been told and you sorta stated, ducks attract ducks. Thats why we use decoys or find the x and setup there.
Have you answered your own question?
For that single duck, or pair, or small group that land in the flooded field, there is either something in the way of food,safety, or a place for potential pairs to hook up.
A food loaded field with 1500 lbs of food/acre looks different than a undisked flooded field with just leave clutter and very little grain or disked flooded field with only bugs/crustaceans.
Now to prove that i know absolutely nothing about the subject:
Last year i had a perfect impoundment with shallow to medium water depth, corn, milo, millet, barnyard grass, sprangletop, toothcup............basically everything they want to eat in a fairly isolated place with absolutely NO hunting pressure. The X was north about 400 yds of this site. We killed maybe 20 ducks out of this hole.
Im still bamboozled.

[Denduke]

Some $.02....learn to call extremely well and respond to duck's flight.
This time of year I'd suggest use 3 hens and 1 drake mallet on a jerk rig. Have another jerk rig with 1 sprig and 3 hens(sex card). Also couple barbellies off to the side. Be completely hidden and away from any high profiles as trees levees...that's the tough and most important thing! You know there's a red headed CO around here was called the "Ditchman" cuz he could finish ducks in drainage ditches....At least that's the legend.


Subliminal messages haven't been workin as of late...

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[Denduke]

Since we archiving a lil....
Proto type of the first spinner

And for targeting "previously baited" ducks

Manipulation is so subjextive

[Anatidae]

......and let's don't forget......waterfowl have a keen sense of smell, too. If it smells like sweet potatoes, it must be sweet potatoes

[jkmjr]

Those "walnut size" brains make mine feel pea sized most of the time. I appreciate the input. I guess if you have ducks in your area concealment is top priority and the other things you can work on from there!

We had our first decent outing, this season, last weekend. It has been very slow for us. I am much better at tricking fish than these dang ducks.

[7ducks]

[hillhunter]

Many people have spend thousands of dollars on a garhole for the very reason of this topic. Places that "look good" don't have a chance in hades against a place 1/4 mile down the road that looks like crap but has history.

[jkmjr]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I certainly agree with this. The holes that have "history" are very hard to come by and when one does become available it usually is not advertised. For those of us that did not grow up with duck hunting in the family or have good contacts it proves very difficult to get into a good situation. The gar holes fill a void and sometimes even the gar holes will attract ducks. As far as I am concerned we will keep looking to improve our situation and make do with what we have. It beats sitting at home.

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